Innan de progressiva sjuttiotalsgrupperna försvann från scenen eller svidade om i mainstreamdress (läs Genesis) så lämnade de kvar ett dinosaurieägg. Ett ägg som sedan dess legat under ett Roger Dean-träd och växt och mognat. Nu har det ägget kläckts och ut har gruppen District 97 från Chicago krupit. Denna grupp har nu släppt sitt debutalbum Hybrid Child. 
Jag fick upp öronen för bandet när jag hörde deras mästerliga version av Oliver Messiaen´s Quartet For The End of Time: Dance of Fury for the Seven Trumpets.
Det allra märkligaste kanske ändå är att trots att det här bandet arbetar i en påtaglig progressiv 70-tals tradition så hörs inga tydliga influenser från något av de stora progrock banden från då.
District 97 härmar inte någon. Jag kan få associationer till tidiga Electric Light Orchestra (pga närvaron av stråkinstrument) och Kansas (pga närvaron av stråkinstrument och auktoriteten i utförandet).
Men mest av allt slås jag av hur starkt bandets egna särart lyser igenom. Kort sagt - District 97 gör allting rätt.
Utöver Can´t Take You With Me, som på albumet är två minuter längre än videoversionen, består albumets första halva av I Don´t Wannan Wait Another Day, The Man Who Knows Your Name och Termites.
Den sistnämnda har något så ovanligt i progrock sammanhang som en politisk text. Enligt Leslie Hunt så handlar den om:
“…consumerism, and relating the human race to termites that just go from planet to planet, consuming everything until the eco system is destroyed... it covers global warming, supply and demand of animal consumption/animal cruelty. “Leslies sätt att framföra Termites visar med all önskvärd tydlighet att hon menar allvar.
De fyra inledningslåtarna är sinsemellan ganska olika. Bandet rör sig mellan renodlad taktartsbytande progrock över metall till partier besläktade med både jazz och klassisk musik.
Andra
halvan av albumet upptas av den 27 minuter långa sviten Mindscan som i tio delar rör sig från 1 - Arrival till 10 - Returning Home. Texten skildrar alien abduction (en idé som Jonathan Schang utvecklar i intervjun nedan). Att känna till detta ger låten en vidare dimension och förklarar varför de olika delarnas titlar.
Inte minst förklarar det de märkliga ljuden och rösterna i del V. Examination.
Ofta brukar man efterlysa någon sorts framåtskridande och nyskapande inom den progressiva rocken, men när man hör Hybrid Child inser man att det inte alls är det som saknats.
Snarare är det någon som förbehållslöst och med stort hjärta förvaltar och förädlar det som 70-talsgrupperna lade grunden till. Och tittar man ( i intervjun nedan) på den långa lista av progrockgrupper som Jonathan Schang uppger har inspirerat honom så inser man varför musiken han skapar låter som den gör.
Jag måste bekänna att jag har svårt att formulera något vettigt om den här musiken. Jag vill bara skruva upp volymen, skrika rakt ut i luften och dansa runt som en dåre i huset. Stapla pyramider av superlativer tills de rasar samman som ett korthus och sedan samla ihop alltihop till ett enda jättelikt bultade hjärta till brädden fyllt av kärlek till Leslie Hunt, Jonathan Schang och de andra i bandet.
Viss musik skall inte analyseras utan bara förbehållslöst dyrkas. Hybrid Child är ett sådant exempel.
Tro mig, det här är bättre än årets bästa album!
Betyg (1-5)
Efter att med full kraft ha drabbats av Hybrid Child ville jag ställa några frågor till gruppen. Jonathan Schang hade vänligheten att ta sig tid att svara. Här följer intervjun i sin helhet. För översättning till svenska hänvisar jag till google translate.
1. Is the job as president of your fan club free? :-)
Yes! Don't expect to get paid though :-)2 Hybrid Child´s been lifted to the skies by most of the reviewers. It’s even been called "Close to the Edge" for the 21st century”. It is rare, to say the least, that a debut album is so unreservedly praised! How does it feel being a rock star? Does this mean you soon gonna start demolishing hotelrooms? :-)Ha, we're far from rock stars at this point, and unfortunately we were quite respectful to our hotel rooms at CalProg.
3 Seriously – did this come as a surprise for you? Or were you in some way expecting this positive welcoming?The surprise lies in the fact that we've received a relatively wide hearing for a new prog band. I wasn't sure if we would find the means to make that happen, but Laser's Edge has been a great help in that regard. I did feel that if people found out about it, there may be an audience willing to embrace us.
4. About the 27 minute epic piece Mindscan. Hearing the lyrics made me very curious. Is this about alien abduction?Yes, it is about alien abduction. I went through a period of being quite fascinated by this subject, and read much of the "literature" pertaining to it. The accounts of alleged "abductees" are indeed captivating, and I thought they would make a good basis for a concept piece.
The piece is my musical interpretation of the standard abduction account, beginning to end. Originally it was envisioned as a multimedia extravaganza with dancers, costumes and sets etc. (which I'd still like to do at some point), but when that didn't happen, I decided to go ahead and write the music for the band and perform it as is. It served as a great catalyst for us and sparked a lot of activity within the band.
5. From where do you get your inspiration and your ideas?The Beatles have always been #1 for me, both together and solo, but as is probably obvious I'm inspired by pretty much all of the Prog masters: Yes (my first prog love), Genesis, Crimson, Tull, ELP, Gentle Giant, Rush, Van der Graaf Generator, Focus, Renaissance, Trace etc. Dream Theater, Planet X and Neal Morse/Spock's Beard are big inspirations out of the newer progessive bands.
I also adore UK, and recently had the amazing opportunity to sit down and have dinner with Allan Holdsworth (and Chad Wackerman).
Eddie Jobson also had kind things to say about our rendition of Presto Vivace at CalProg, which was extremely flattering.
Outside of that, I've listened to and played lots of jazz. I've checked out a lot of the usual suspects in both straight-ahead jazz and fusion. I'd cite Dave Holland as a particularly big influence from that field.
I love watching stories where you're never quite sure what the next twist or plot element will be, and I try to capture that in my lyrics to some extent, as well as my music.
6. Mindscan will likely go down in progrock history as one of the great epic songs. Which progrock epic is your own favourite?Thanks! Tough question, but I think I have to go with "Awaken" by Yes. So incredibly moving.
7. What do you think of the state of progressive rock today? How do you think this style will develop?It does seem to be on a bit of a rebound, so I think we come along at a fairly opportune time. One thing I notice is that some people seem to have a certain list of prerequisites that must be present to make something “prog”, which to me seems a bit antithetical to the whole notion of progressive music, and maybe contributes to the stereotyped image of the genre to the public at large.
As for how it will develop, I hope being "prog" will not be so thought out and planned out and move to a less codified approach. I think music should just happen naturally, and if it turns out "progressive", then great! I'm fairly sure that's how it was back in the late 60's and early 70's, which is probably why there was such a wonderful diversity of approaches that all fell under the prog umbrella back then.
8. Any final words for the Swedish audience?It is surreal to know that this album we recorded in a total vacuum out here in the midwest is getting listened to all over the world. It is an extremely gratifying feeling, yet hard to get one's head around. I think we have to get out there in front of a Swedish audience so we all realize it's not a dream!
Länkar:
Köp Hybrid Child från Lasers Edge.
Spotify - District 97 – Hybrid Child.
Intervju med Leslie Hunt här, och solo på Spotify - Leslie Hunt – From The Strange To A Stranger
Spårlista -
01:I Don't Wanna Wait Another Day (7:18)
02:I Can't Take You With Me (5:37)
03:The Man Who Knows Your Name (8:49)
04:Termites (5:54)
Mindscan [Total Time: 27:36]
05:I Arrival (1:31)
06:II Entrance (3:07)
07:III Realization (2:46)
08:IV Welcome (2:48)
09:V Examination (2:54)
10:VI Hybrid Child (3:31)
11:VII Exploration (2:20)
12:VIII What Do They Want (2:42)
13:IX When I Awake (3:12)
14:X Returning Home (2:45)
Line-up:
Leslie Hunt (lead and backing vocals)
Katinka Kleijn (cello)
Rob Clearfield (keyboards, baritone guitar - #4)
Jim Tashjian (guitars)
Patrick Mulcahy (bass)
Johnathan Schang (drums, percussion)
